Wednesday, November 13, 2013

E.ON UK Q3 Supply Activities: Sales up significantly but supply profit falls when compared with H1 level (EBITDA Q3 2013: £236m / H1 2013: £273m)

By AndrewBarrow
Q3 supply

E.ON UK has today (WED) announced details of its financial performance for the first nine months of 2013. E.ON operates the different parts of its activities separately in the UK, and they are individually reported below.


UK Supply Activities (i.e. Residential, SME and Corporate Supply)



E.ON UK Chief Executive, Tony Cocker said: "Our turnover has increased significantly compared to last year, and we have also seen a very small increase in what we have earned compared with the same period. It is also notable that we have been running our supply business at a loss of around £37m1 for the last three months.


"The costs we control, such as running our contact centres, have fallen but the costs we don't control such as networks and government schemes have risen and are set to continue into next year. According to Ofgem's recently released figures2 we have already delivered ahead of the industry towards our ECO targets and have done so as efficiently and as cost effectively as possible. However it is also clear that we are not just being asked to do more but also to complete more complex home improvements.


"Whilst we will not comment on speculation, it is fair to say that we are being put in a position where it is increasingly likely that we will need to pass on some of these increases in costs to our customers. This is always a last resort and, as was the case last year, we are holding back any increase for our customers for longer than any of the other large energy suppliers. We will also seek to minimise any increase whilst making sure we maintain a sustainable supply business in the UK. That is right for our colleagues and right for our customers."


E.ON UK Q3 Generation, Upstream and other activities in the UK:
Profits down by 47% but investment remains almost double amount earned


Generation, Upstream and other activities operating in the UK:


Gen, upstream Q3


Commenting on the results seen across E.ON's other activities in the UK, Tony Cocker said: "The lower EBITDA for E.ON's other activities in the UK for the year so far is attributable to a number of factors including the closure of Kingsnorth power station under the LCPD and the fact that gas power stations remain barely profitable.


"This year we have seen increased costs through government policies such as the Carbon Price Floor which is simply a tax that artificially inflates the end price for consumers, provides revenue for the Exchequer and acts as a subsidy to operators of existing nuclear plants. We believe it should be scrapped. However, if it is not scrapped, the money it raises should be used for energy efficiency. This is why we support the Energy Bill Revolution, which is calling for the Carbon Price Floor revenues to be reinvested to improve the energy efficiency in UK homes."


E.ON's investment levels in the UK continue to outstrip profit levels significantly. Capacity will continue to be built through projects such as the state-of-the-art biomass power station, Blackburn Meadows, Humber Gateway offshore wind farm and by securing energy supplies for the future by exploring the North Sea. Most notably, in the last quarter E.ON E&P UK Ltd, along with its partner Dana Petroleum, gave details of a significant gas discovery in the Tolmount field.


Ends


Notes to editors:


1 = H1 2013, data published on 13th August 2013. http://pressreleases.eon-uk.com/blogs/eonukpressreleases/archive/2013/08/13/1959.aspx


E.ON UK h1




2 = https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/ofgem-publications/84352/ecocomplianceupdate-october2013quarterlyannexv1.pdf



For more information contact:


Scott Somerville (02476 183 438 or 07540 817 936)
Victoria Blake (02476 181 304 or 07738 143 903)
Roxanne Postle (02476 195 785 or 07815 494 468)


No comments: